Cherry Blossoms In San Francisco
by Ink Runs Through My Veins
Summary: Drew and the gang have come to San Francisco on a field trip where they meet May, a shrine priestess who has strange abilities. She seems normal enough, but as Drew falls for her, will he become frightened of her past. Or even...of May?
1. Drew

Cherry Blossoms In Japan Town.  
Silver Psychic

Also based off of a picture. You just can't stop the inspiration!

I don't own the characters. I only toy with their feelings, attach strings to their bodies and make them act like marionettes for my own amusement.

* * *

Chapter 1: Drew

I sighed as I listened to my friends.

Ash was getting clobbered by Misty's mallet, Dawn was annoying Paul by talking too much and Leaf was trying to ignore Gary, who was hitting on her with the most stupid pick-up lines I had ever heard of.

As much as I liked my friends, if they didn't shut up soon, heads were going to roll. Particularly theirs.

I loved my friends. Really I did. They were some of the most loyal bunch you could find and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

"I swear I didn't Misty!"

"Don't even try defending yourself Ash! Now get over here and take it like a man!"

"And then she sai–hey! Are you even listening Paul?"

"Grunt."

"Touch me one more time Gray and that hand _**comes off**_."

"Whoa, Leaf, babe. You gotta stop with the love scars. Any more and you won't be able to recognize my handsome face."

But you gotta miss the silence.

I sighed and dug out my headphones from my bag. If I was going to sit here with there bunch of lunatics, I might as well listen to music.

* * *

And hour later, they were announcing our location.

We had come to San Francisco on a field trip for the seniors as a grad gift from the school. We originally voted on Hawaii, but with our measly budget we could only afford San Francisco. And so here I was, sitting (thank God) in a row by myself while my friends and classmates chattered around me.

The bus suddenly pulled to a stop in front of a large hotel. Our teacher, Ms. Solidad, walked to the front of the bus. "Class, I know a lot of you are excited but please remain from bothering the staff too much. When you come up to the front, I will assign you a room of four. You may or may not like your roommates. If you have any problems, please talk to me or Professor Oak. Are there any questions?" There were none. "Good. When I call your names, get your luggage and grab a key. An employee will escort you to your rooms."

* * *

Lucky for us, Gary, Ash, Paul and I got stuck in the same room.

Ash was jumping on the bed like a kid while the rest of us calmly put our stuff away.

He rolled his eyes at us. "Why are you guys so lame? We can put our stuff away later! I wanna go out and see the food!"

Paul rolled his eyes. "It was announced that we weren't going to leave the hotel until tomorrow. Where were you stupid? Over by the buffet table?"

"Good one Paul." Gary laughed.

"You too dumbass." I said as I folded some clothes away into a drawer. He immediately stopped laughing. "I heard you talking about sneaking off to go see the hookers at Hayte Street with Barry and Brendan. Just so you know, they asked the hotel to place security around the doors so none of us sneak out. Its an instant stay-at-the-hotel-all-day-tomorrow if they catch you."

"Burn." Ash snickered.

Gary flushed. "At least I'm not a glutton!"

"At least I can score a girlfriend!" Ash yelled back.

"So can I!"

"No you can't! Leaf would rather kiss Conway than be your girlfriend! She told me herself, so there!"

I tried to ignore the rest of their tirade while I packed away the rest of my clothes. Thank goodness we were allowed to wear normal clothes instead of our uniforms. I wouldn't have come on this trip otherwise. The uniforms of our private school made us look like tourists on a field trip. Paul had walked out of the room as soon at the arguments started, most likely going to look for Dawn. I don't care what he says, he so has a crush on her. Ever since she transferred from France last year, he's had his eye on her.

Since Gary is such a player, Leaf doesn't believe him when he says he likes her. But as one of Gary's closest friends, I know he genuinely cares for Leaf. She may be his best childhood friend, but she's also one of the only girls in the school who don't care about him for his looks. You can guess the other two.

Ash is the only boy in our group who has a girlfriend. We all think Misty was high the day she said yes but they've been going out for a year already so that blew that theory. Gary nearly blew up the school when Ash told us the news. We always thought it was going to be Gary who got his first real girlfriend (and not one of those preppy girls who liked Gary for his looks, but he still makes-out with), but Ash really surprised us with that one.

I've always been a charmer, I won't deny that. With my striking good looks and charms, it isn't a mystery as to why I have my own fan club. But I had never liked someone. Sure I had friends who were girls like Misty, Dawn and Leaf. But there was no girl who really caught my eye. Sure, for years since I hit puberty, girls have been throwing themselves at me left and right. And I'll admit, I was kinda tempted to just take one of them out and see what it was like, but then I knew that would only end in disaster.

* * *

They had gotten us up at five thirty. Five freaking thirty.

You'd think that since this was a school trip they would let us sleep in. But nope, they had to be _**sadists**_ and wake us up at an ungodly hour.

All of us were bleary eyed as we sat down to breakfast in the lobby at the hotel.

Leaf yawned. "I can't believe they're making us get up at this time."

Misty just dipped her head and brought it back up again, like she was fighting the urge to fall asleep in her omelet. Sleep had defeated Ash as he was snoozing away in his cereal. Dawn and Gary were pinching themselves to keep each other awake (and it was seriously hilarious to watch). I myself had to tap my leg constantly to make sure I stayed conscious.

Amazingly, Paul was the only one of us who actually looked _**normal**_.

"Dude," Gary yawned. "How do you do it?"

Paul shrugged. "Go to sleep earlier. And invest in ear-plugs because you and Ash were noisy as Troublesome over here on a bad hair day."

Dawn, too tired to think of a remark, punched his shoulder. Hard. We all laughed (and ignored the glares from the other students) and tried to finish our breakfast without falling asleep again.

* * *

Eventually, Ms. Solidad and Mr. Harley rounded us up and took us to a temple in Japan Town.

"This temple," Ms. Solidad explained as we walked down the streets. "Is called the Temple of the Phoenix. It's famous for it's charms. The priestess who makes the charms is said to be possessed by a Phoenix. Every day come sunrise, the sun passes over the temple at exactly six, which is why we got you guys up at five-thirty. The Phoenix blesses the girl and she makes only two hundred charms while the sun passes overhead. The charms are only available during the day because they sell out so quickly and they are more effective during the day time. I don't remember what the girl's name is, but according to the website, she should be your age. So remember class, try and behave yourselves." She looked pointedly at Gary and Ash, who got into enough scuffles to give any teacher a headache.

Thankfully, we didn't have to march up any stairs. The garden was perfectly manicured with tiny bridges over little streams that ran throughout the temple. If you looked closely, you could see brightly colored fish. The shop was said to open in a couple of minutes so we decided to stick around and explore. The gardens were filled with dozens of flowers ranging from lilies to sakura trees. Most of the girls were squealing and taking pictures while the guys tried to look uninterested. But as I walked near the back of the shrine, I saw a huge rose bush. At least six feet tall and dozens of different colored roses.

I was instantly entranced. I've always wanted a garden of my own, but living in New York isn't exactly the ideal place to plant a garden. But I loved roses. And these were clearly taken care of better than the other flowers. I was so entranced that I almost didn't hear Ms. Solidad calling everyone over. With one last longing glance at the roses, I turned away and ran up to my classmates.

We were all lining up to see the shrine priestess perform her morning ritual. Once we had settled, the doors of the temple were suddenly opened.

Inside was a beautiful girl. Her twin pigtails framed her heart-shaped face and captivating sapphire eyes. She wore the traditional red shrine-maiden garb and it looked absolutely beautiful on her. In front of her was a roaring fire, but she ignored it. Her eyes were half open as if she was tired as well. But then she quickly closed her eyes and began to chant.

"O' glorious sun god." Her voice was monotonous, but beautiful. As if she had said the words all her life. "Heed my prayers and accept my body. Bring forth the golden light to us mortals so that we may shine. Lead us out of darkness and into thy shining light. Banish our ignorance with thy radiance and school us unto thy glory." She repeated these lines over and over again. While she chanted, she threw some sort of plant into the hearth. The smell of burnt herbs quickly filled the air. Once she was finished throwing in the plants, she reached into the fire and grabbed the ashes.

At first all of us started to panic. She reached her arm straight into the flames! But then we realized the flame wasn't hurting her. It was like the flame wasn't even there. Once all the ashes were all in a large bowl, she began to take bits of it and dropped it into charm bags. We were all so entranced by her show that by the time we realized the show was over, the priestess was giggling.

"I'm glad you liked the show." Her voice was like a springtime breeze. Sweet and melancholy. "Please, help yourselves to the bags in the gift shop. My brother shall be with you in a moment." And she closed the temple doors.

Ms. Solidad let out a breath of air and laughed nervously. "You heard the girl. If you want a charm, get in line at the store." Funny enough, almost everyone immediately ran to the shop, including my friends (although it looked like Paul was getting dragged there by Dawn and Ash) and Mr. Harley. It was only Ms. Solidad and I that remained.

"You're not going?"

I shrugged. "I can wait. I'm not in a rush." Ms. Solidad shook her head and began to head towards the gift shop. I strolled over to the rose bush to get a better look. I knew I wouldn't be seeing much plant life once we went back to New York.

As I turned the corner I immediately stopped in my tracks. The priestess from earlier was watering the roses. Her smile as she poured a certain amount of water on each rose was loving care. She smiled and, strangely, began to talk to them while she watered them.

"So it's a new day huh?" She giggled. "Today a school came by and watched my morning prayers. I hope I put on a good performance like usual." She smiled wistfully. "I remember when I–" She cut herself off and shook her head. "Get a grip Maple. Don't think about it. You never want to go back there. You'll just make yourself miserable." She shook her head again and began to talk to them again. "I saw a couple of cute guys in the crowd too! There was this one kid with a bandana on his forehead. He had white hair! Although I think it's just a hat, but you can never be sure. And then there was this one with black hair and brown eyes. Now he was cute! Too bad though." She shrugged. "I think he has a girlfriend. This red-head was talking to him and he looked at her like she was the only girl in the world. She's one lucky girl. I wonder what her name is?"

"Misty." Crap! I didn't mean to say that!

She turned her head so suddenly her neck cracked. "W-Who are you? Are you a customer?"

I nodded. "My name is Drew. I was just stopping by to...explore." I couldn't say I had come here to admire the roses. That would make me look weird.

She giggled. "It's okay to say you wanted to see the roses. My name is May. These roses are my best friends. I've been taking care of them since I could walk."

I was impressed. "It takes a lot of time and effort to take care of roses. Where do you get the time?"

Her smile somehow turned forced. "I'm home schooled. And since I like school, it only takes a while to complete my assignments so I have a lot of free time."

Not wanting to push the subject, I was going to talk about something else when a 'meow' interrupted me. I looked down to see a kitten snuggling my sneaker. It's fur was so white it almost looked pink.

May looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry. Skitty loves to rub her fur on guests."

I chuckled. "It's no problem May. I like animals. You don't really see them much in New York where I live." I picked Skitty up and began to stroke her head. She purred and snuggled into my chest.

She gasped. "You don't have many animals? Thats just sad!"

I shrugged. "You get used to it. But it's okay. Animals are kinda too much to handle when you don't have the time or energy to pay much attention to them."

She nodded. "I understand. It takes a lot of effort for me to look after my animals."

"How many do you have?"

"I have a colony of butterflies, a chick, another cat, and a turtle. All of them I got from the rescue center just down the road."

"Why do you take care of them all?"

She shrugged. "Someone has to look after them. They were all going to be put down if someone didn't adopt them soon. I always ask them to phone me whenever they're about to...kill an animal."

I was amazed. "Wow. That's really generous of you."

She blushed. Before she could say anything, a boy rushed up to her. He appeared to be her brother. He was wearing the same shrine clothing as May, only in blue. He was huffing as he grabbed her arm. "May! You have to help out! The shop is full of people and I need more hands."

She groaned and looked to me. "Later, when you guys are ready, I'll show you and your friends the best spots in San Fran okay?"

Before I could answer, she was led away.

* * *

A few hours later, when all of my classmates had bought all their charms, Ms. Solidad finally let us go.

"Now if I catch any of you," She warned. "_**Any **_of you near the Red Light District in Japan Town, you will be facing _**severe**_ punishments when we get back. Most of the teachers will be patrolling near the District so we _**will **_know if any of you have been there. Go around in groups of two or three, never one. Keep your cellphones on at all times and call me for any reason if you need to turn it off. You all have my number so if anything happens, call us. Other than that, we should be good. Go have fun!"

And with that, we all dispersed.

I ran up to my friends and told them about May. "And she said she could show us around the local way." I concluded.

Dawn nodded. "That sounds fun! I'd like to meet her too. Her show was so amazing!"

"Well I'm glad you guys think so!" We all turned to see May, in her normal clothes, smiling, holding her hand out to Dawn. She somehow looked less...like a mystical being without her priestess robes. "My name is May Maple. I'm pleased to meet you all."

Misty was the first one to recover from the shock. "I'm Misty and this is my boyfriend, Ash." She gestured to Ash. "These are my friends. Leaf," She waved.

"Gary," He winked.

"Dawn," "Nice to meet you!" She chirped.

"And Paul." He grunted.

"And I'm Brianna, Drew's future girlfriend. So back off and leave him the hell alone!"

Oh no. And just when I thought I would have a _**nice **_trip! Standing behind the red-head were three other girls. Melody, who had a crush on Ash, Ursula, who had a crush on Paul, and Dana, who had a crush on Gary. All four of them hated the girls in our group for obvious reasons.

Misty growled, Leaf frowned and Dawn began to curse at them in french. Our girls also hated them, also for obvious reasons. But Brianna was staring at May like she was a bug at the bottom of her shoe.

"I don't see why I should back off." May argued. "If Drew was going to ask you out, don't you think he would have done it already?"

All of us snickered as Brianna's face turned red. "He _**is **_going to ask me out." She snapped. "He's just shy and hanging out with losers all the time."

May snickered. "Funny. He doesn't strike me as the shy type. And the only _**losers **_I see here are a bunch of delusional prissies who insult people to make themselves feel better about how horrible they look. Now if you will excuse us, we have better things to do than stand around and listen to high-pitched squeaking."

"At least I'm not some fake shrine-maiden who sells fake charms!"

Before any of us knew what was happening, May had Brianna against the ground, her arm was cutting into Brianna's neck. Most of the people still in the shrine either gasped or cheered May on. Misty, Dawn and Leaf had to hold Brianna's friends back from helping her out.

"Listen here." May growled. "You can insult me, you can insult my clothes, but _**don't **_insult my powers. Got it?"

"Prove it." Brianna choked.

May smirked and lifted herself off of Brianna. Without even hesitating, she strode over to the shrine and opened the door. She took some logs and started a fire in front of us. "You see that the fire is real?"

Brianna "humped" and put her hand near the fire. Instantly she retracted it. "Yeah. It's real. So what?"

May put her hand near the fire as well. But instead of retracting her hand, she put her whole arm in the flame. The girls (as well as some of the people nearby) began to scream while us guys gasped and stood there with our mouths opened. When she decided we'd had enough, she pulled back her arm and started to put the fire out.

"Believe now?" May snapped.

Brianna nodded her head slowly but it was Dana who spoke. "You're a freak! A crazy, alien freak!" With each insult, May winced. "You should be sent to the government where they kill people like that! At least there you would be where you belong!" At that last insult, Leaf decided she had enough and slapped her.

"Like you're one to talk." Leaf snapped. "How about all of those gay porn magazines you hide under your bed? Or the fact that you still play with your dolls? I have so many embarrassing secrets about you, Dana, that by the time I finished, you'd be bawling 'till graduation."

I think everyone within a thirty yard radius gasped. Brianna and her crew had scowls on their faces directed at Leaf and Dana.

"We'll finish this later." Brianna eyed a tearful Dana distastefully. "Let's go girls. We'll leave Drew with his loser friends. But beware Maple," She pointed at May. "This isn't over."

"I'll be ready when you decide to try and wimp out." She sneered back.

With a flip of her hair, an air-kiss directed at me and a heartfelt glare at the rest of my friends, Brianna and her crew walked out of the temple gate.

May sighed and turned to me. "If _**that**_ is your future girlfriend, I'm afraid I'm going to have to question your sanity."

Dawn laughed. "Trust me May, Drew is as sane as you or me."

"Your sanity in question, however, is debata–"

"Do you want to live Paul?" Silence, with some snickering. "Then shut up."

* * *

"So how did you know all of that about Dana?" Asked Dawn as we piled into a black van. May had invited all of us into her family's van so there was plenty of room.

"Its easy. She's psychic."

All of us gasped at May, except for Leaf who nodded. "She's right. It's kinda hard to explain, but when I concentrate on a person, I can get a feel of what they know. But I have to be in a Zen-like state to read minds. You guys know that old psychic tavern down by the square? The one run by that old lady?" We nodded. "And you know how you've been hearing rumors about a new apprentice who's predictions and readings are spot-on?" We nodded again. "You're looking at her."

Most of us gasped except for May, who was probably used to this kind of stuff, and Paul, who rarely made facial expressions at all.

"Why the heck didn't you tell us?" Yelled Misty.

Leaf shrugged. "How would you feel if you were the freak of the group because you could read emotions and see auras?"

Gary rolled his eyes. "C'mon, I've seen scarier stuff go down Ashy-boy's throat. Now _**that **_is some scary stuff."

After a few more rounds of insults (mostly thrown by Ash and Gary at each other, with the occasional comment from Paul or Misty), our group finally allowed May to lead them to the hot spots.

The first place she led us to, however, was a bathhouse.

May rolled her eyes at our gasps and Gary's whistle.

"It's not a real bathhouse." She explained as she pulled into a parking lot. "Its the ruins of one. Sutro Bathhouse was a bathhouse that opened during the nineteenth century. 1896 to be exact. It was owned by the mayor of San Francisco at the time, Adolph Sutro, and extremely popular due to its seven pools, all for different uses. It also had a museum, a concert hall and an ice skating rink. Due to an accident during the sixties, the place burned down, but it's one of my favorite spots in the whole city. There are cliffs for views and a cave off to the side for people to explore. It's especially beautiful during the sunset or for moon-viewing."

She suddenly motioned to an old man sitting on a rock, talking to some people. "I forgot his name, but he's been around since before the bathhouse burned down! If you go and talk to him, he could probably tell you some amazing stories. That cafe over there," She pointed to a small building next to where the trail that led down to the ruins started. "Is wonderful! It even has a history! It's been family owned since forever. They have the whole history on the menu. Their shakes and pies are famous!"

That definitely caught Ash's attention.

"Why don't we get some brunch there?" He exclaimed.

Misty, who knew she would have little resistance to those innocent eyes her boyfriend often manipulated her with, sighed. "Alright. But later okay? I wanted to have a look at those cliffs."

Excited with the prospect of food, Ash nodded and May began to guide us down to the cliffs.

* * *

It certainly was...interesting to say the least. The ruins weren't even ruins at all! Or at least..they didn't look like it. It looked like a giant pond without the fish and a tunnel in the side of a hill.

Squealing, Misty dragged Ash to a pathway along the edge of the pond. On the other side of it was the ocean. Dawn began to drag Paul up the stairs to take a look at the view. I saw Gary trying to push Leaf into the tunnel.

The tunnel that was dark. Where they would be alone. And Gary would have the perfect opportunity to do something to my _**cousin**_.

Obviously I had to have a little _**chat **_with one of my good friends.

* * *

Thankfully May waited for me while I threatened the crap out of Gary.

"Sorry. I had to...talk to Gary."

May shook her head. "Nah. It's fine. Shall we go?"

She led me to a little dock where we had to dodge holes in the ground before we can to an old rickety dock. I yelped as I had to jump over another gap in the pathway. "Are you sure this thing will hold? It looks like its about to collapse any second!"

She rolled her eyes. "This place is a historical park. The city makes sure places like this is stable enough for tourists to enjoy. There's no need to worry."

"...Have you been talking to Dawn?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"...Nothing."

The place was a hit. May and I had a long chat while we gazed at Misty dragging a frightened Ash along the pathway between the pond and the huge waves. When they came back, they were both soaking wet. Dawn (and Paul, although he wouldn't admit it until later) also had a great time. The view was amazing and Dawn was as happy as a kid on Christmas to get some really nice photos in. Leaf and Gary also had an awesome time. Apparently there was this giant puddle that you had to jump over in order to get to the other side. Leaf landed on the sand. Gary landed in the puddle. We all laughed at the wet trio as we ate at the restaurant next to the bathhouse.

May was an amazing tour guide. She took us the the beach, got us into the San Francisco Zoo and took us to Hayte Street. She took us places we had never even heard of and we didn't spend a cent on anything. The only reason being she wouldn't let us.

"Why spend a ton of money on a tour guide when I'm showing you around for free?" She argued. "Save your money. I'm doing this because you guys are great. And its been a long time since I've really hung out with anybody. Think of this as my thank you for helping me to get out of shrine duties."

Eventually, we had dinner at a place called BurgerMiester on Market Street. May raved about their burgers.

"I know I'm going a bit overboard on the whole history thing, but places that have been around for a while tend to taste better than the new-agey places in the city. And this place is old. Don't worry, you'll like it. And they have some vegetarian stuff if you hate meat."

We loved it. Gary, Misty and Ash had an eating contest (like usual), May and Leaf chatted about being psychics and shrine maidens and how they related and Dawn was trying to get some words out of Paul's mouth. I think it's her personal goal to get him to smile without her help. I just sat there, ate my burger and observed my friends.

It was weird. Usually, I minded being left out of the loop because everyone else had other people to talk to. If I wasn't around it was always an even number. But now that May was around, I didn't mind it so much.

Before I even knew it, May was paying our bill and we were leaving.

* * *

"One more place guys." She promised as we walked to her van. "Then you can go back to your hotel."

Gary groaned. "Where are you taking us now? Haven't you dragged us around enough?"

"And have I not been an awesome tour guide?"

"Answer that question in the negative Gary," Leaf warned as Gary started to open his mouth. "And I will personally make sure you end up dead at the bottom of the bay." He quickly shut his mouth as we all laughed.

The last place she took us to was AT&T Park. There was a park right next to the parking lot with giant baseball statues and bronze memorials with names I didn't recognize. Statues of famous baseball players stood next to a railing that separated us from a ravine next to the baseball park. It was cold, we were all in tourist clothing and slightly wet so we were shivering.

"Why did you bring us here?"

"Just be patient Misty. The show should start in five." May looked at her watch. "Four. Three. Two. One. Zero."

When she said zero, bright lights suddenly filled the sky. Echoing booms startled the people around us as we gazed at the fireworks over the field.

Dawn and Leaf cheered like little girls as they ran to get closer to the colors bursting in the sky, Gary and Paul following them like protective boyfriends. Misty and Ask had simply settled down in each others arms, Misty's head in the crook of Ash's shoulder as they too gazed at the fireworks.

I turned to May and smiled. "This is wonderful May. Thank you for showing us around San Francisco."

She blushed prettily and smiled. "It was no trouble Drew." She looked a bit distant as she said her next sentences. "It was wonderful to discover what it was like to have friends again. I had nearly forgotten." She shook her head again. "Sorry. I was just...having a moment there I guess. Anyway," She smiled brightly. "Thank you for letting me do this I haven't had this much fun in...forever."

And somehow, as I gazed at May watching the fireworks with a dazed look in her eye, I think she really meant that last part.

Only problem is why would she?

What could _**she **_of all people have to hide when she wore her heart on her sleeve?

* * *

...Wow. This is _**very**_ long. Took me a while to complete too.

The places in this story do exist so when you have the time and money, try and go visit! Any place you are interested in, you can just Google or go to Wiki.

Review please!


	2. Leaf

Cherry Blossoms In San Francisco  
Silver Psychic

I don't own the characters. I only toy with their feelings, attach strings to their bodies and make them act like marionettes for my own amusement. On a bad day it works miracles.

* * *

Chapter 2: Leaf

It was near ten when we finally detached ourselves from the park. Too bored to do anything else, I started to observe the rest of the gang as May drove us to the hotel we were staying at.

Gary was too tired to flirt so he rested his head on my lap. I didn't have enough energy to tell him to get off so I let him do as he pleased. Dawn and Paul were quietly talking to each other and Paul was actually giving a rare smile for once! Ash and May were in the front seat, arguing about who could eat more. Misty was looking at Ash with such an adoration that made me slightly jealous. And Drew was...staring at May.

Now that was interesting. I was tempted to tell everyone to shut up so I could read all their minds, but that would be way too much to hope for. So I settled for concentrating on what his feelings were.

He was...interested. He had never met someone like May and he was curious about her. She had said something to him at AT&T Park before we left and it made curious.

Well that was a shocker.

Drew was known as "The Lonely Rose" in our high school. He never went out with anyone and he barely had any friends except us. But even then he was always silent. Sometimes he would show us his cocky side but that was all we ever got out of him. Never any friendly side.

We all jerked out of our trance as May hit the brakes outside of our hotel.

"Well this is it!" She called out. How could she still have so much energy? She was the one touring us around! "Have a good night."

"Thanks a lot May." Misty said gratefully as she slid out of the van. I had to nudge Gary off my lap.

"Indeed." Dawn said. "It was so _charmant!_ I hope we get to see each other again."

The realization hit us all hard. This could be the last time we ever saw May.

"Hey." Drew spoke up. "Why don't you come with us to the Giants game tomorrow? I heard Ms. Solidad saying we had a miscalculation with the tickets and we have a few extras. How about coming along?"

May positively beamed. "Really? I'd want to pay you back for the ticket though."

Ash shook his head. "Don't sweat it May. You're our friend now."

I swear May's face lit up like the fireworks we just saw. "Thanks a lot." She looked at her watch and flinched. "Uh-oh. I'd better get going. By guys! I'll see you tomorrow!" And she took off, the van quickly becoming a blur of white in the distance.

* * *

"But I swear! The evil witch did something to Drew!"

"And Paulie!"

"And Ashy!"

"And Gar-bear!"

We all sighed as we heard the voices of the _**slutets**_ shouting in the lobby of our hotel. Seriously, this place is like a four star hotel. Couldn't they have some class for once?

Thankfully Ms. Solidad spotted us and scowled at the whiny girls. "Look, if you're going to complain about something, make sure its actually true."

"But it is true!" They protested.

You could see Ms. Solidad was starting to become frustrated. "Then how come they just walked into the lobby?"

They turned to the entrance and, upon seeing that their precious boys (I use this with the most sarcastic tone I can) were alright, they instantly fled their pissed off teacher and ran to throw themselves at the boys. Hilariously, Misty blocked Melody, Dawn pulled Paul out of Ursula's way and Gary and Drew began to run from Dana and Brianna while I laughed my ass off. I could hear Ms. Solidad muttering, "I'm not getting payed enough for this."

Soon the lobby was filled with squeaks and shout and hysterical laughter (thank you. I'll be here all night).

* * *

After we lost the slutets and talked about giving our extra ticket to May with Ms. Solidad, we returned to the boy's room to mull over today.

"I like May." Misty started. "She's funny and gracious. And she seems really trustworthy."

Gary nodded. "She really does seem like a good person. There's just something about her that doesn't seem..."

"Normal?" Ash offered.

Dawn nodded. "Yeah. Its like she's hiding this _bizarre_ secret she doesn't want anyone else to know."

"So she can't have secrets?" I asked, outraged. They just met her! Of course she was going to have a secret we wasn't going to share with us! Hell, we all have...

We don't keep secrets from each other.

Gary, Ash and I have been neighbors since we were in diapers. Our moms are best friends. We were the original trio before we let others into the group.

Paul and I met in preschool where we bonded over our knowledge. We were smarter than the average six year olds and it frustrated our teachers. Gary and Ash were in a different preschool so I was lonely all the time. The fact that I didn't annoy him as much as the other kids was a plus so we just stuck together.

Misty transferred in elementary school because her old one kicked her out. She later told us it was because someone had blackmailed her into trying drugs and some snitch told a teacher.

Drew transferred in middle school because of a rumored bullying problem. We somehow managed to convince him we weren't pitying him like everyone else and he opened up to us. He told us it was because of his hair and people picked on him for it.

Dawn came here as an exchange student from France around the time we befriended Drew. She couldn't speak English very well in the beginning and a lot of people picked on her for that. It was embarrassing to her and she almost went back to France. It was Paul who convinced her to stay. He told her she was being a wimp and I guess that just drove her to prove him wrong. And ever since they've been as close as Gary, Ash and I. Maybe even closer.

The point is we all know each other well enough to know all each others secrets. We don't keep secrets from each other and whatever we find out, we tell each other. It's why Misty freaked out so much when I told everyone I was psychic.

But this was different. This was a stranger we just happened to make friends with. We barely know anything about who she is or what makes her May. I stood up. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Leaf–"

"Its fine Gary. I'm just really tired. I mean, don't tell me you lot aren't exhausted too?"

Drew sighed and flopped down on his bed. "Yeah. Come to think of it, I am."

Misty nodded and got up from Ash's lap with a quick peck on the cheek. "Yeah. Let's hit the hay. We've got a big day tomorrow. After the game, Ms. Solidad said that she got us a tour at Alcatraz."

"Sweet!" Ash yelped. "I've been looking forward to seeing bloodstains on the walls."

Dawn rolled her eyes and got up from a plushy chair. "Whatever. I'm going to hit the showers once Leaf is done."

"You girls need any help?" Gary wiggled his eyebrows.

You could have literally _**felt**_ the evil aura that Paul excluded as he directed his famous _**Death Glare **_at Gary. The girls and I giggled nervously and said our quick goodbyes before running for our lives. We ignored the screaming that came from the boys room.

* * *

We were all in bed when I felt it.

I could hear Misty's loud snores and Dawn's nose whistle (don't ask), but I just couldn't sleep. I kept wondering about May. In a way, she was just like me. Different. I don't know how, but I could sense she was more powerful than she let on.

For years I've looked for people like me. I've gone to every fortune teller in Manhattan and all of them were phonies or not powerful enough to understand me. Hell, I've gone to stupid psychic conventions looking to see if anyone was like me. And the closest I've gotten to was an old woman who could barely control her own powers, much less teach me how to control mine. And I somehow ended up working for her! I mean I get a decent amount of money by helping her out, but I don't want to do this for the rest of my life!

I sighed and rolled over on my bed. It was going to take me forever to fall asleep wasn't it?

I suddenly felt a raging pain between my eyes. It felt like nothing I had ever felt before. I tried to keep myself from waking the girls and bit my fist. It only increased the pain I felt. A sensation that felt like needles stabbing at the place between my eyebrows. The first thing that came to my mind was May. Maybe she could help me out! I crawled painfully to the window. I tried to open it, but a damn screen blocked it! I had to get rid of it somehow. I couldn't go through the front doors. The guards would recognize me as a student. Even through the pain, I tried to remember what the old woman had taught me.

_Use the force of your mind. It is your most powerful weapon and no one can take that away from you._

Taking in a deep breath, I tired to reach deep inside myself like the old woman had taught me. I lifted my hands and let the excess energy in my head out. I opened my eyes to hear a crashing noise. I looked down and saw the screen door smashed to smithereens.

"Oops." I thought as I checked on the girls. They were still sound asleep. "Thank God they're such heavy sleepers." And then I jumped out the window.

I don't know how, but I made it to May's shrine.

"May?" I whispered. "May are you here?"

"Leaf?" I turned to see May in her shrine-maiden garb that she wore this morning. "What are you dong here Leaf? And how did you get out of the hotel?"

"Listen May," I walked over to her and grabbed her shoulders. "my head hurts so much. And I know its not normal."

"How?"

"Because I've never felt a pain this intense before. And the pain is all in the center of my forehead. Please May! Ah!" The pain was starting to build up. "Please!"

She nodded. "I'll do what I can. Can you stand? I need to move you to the shrine."

"I'll try." I was somehow able to stand and she hooked my arm over her shoulders. "May?"

"Yeah Leaf?" She grunted.

"Am I going to die?"

She snorted and I could tell she was trying to hold back a laugh. "No. You're not going to die Leaf. You've got a psychic headache."

"A what?" We had arrived at her shrine. She quickly opened the doors and slipped us inside. Shutting the door, she laid me on a futon that was in the corner of the room.

"I sometimes sleep in here." She explained. "If I want to get up earlier or something like that, I'll sleep in here. But enough about that." She pulled out a large branch of something. I wasn't that knowledgeable when it came to botany, so I didn't recognize it. "What you have is what I call a psychic headache. When you use your abilities a lot without proper training, some of your psychic energy gets trapped in the spiritual eye, where all your psychic abilities are. It creates a lot of spiritual...waste I guess you could say, that gets trapped there and that blocks a lot of energy. That is why you are getting a headache. What we need to do is get you to release that waste into the atmosphere so new energy can be created. You understand?" I nodded. "Good. Do you know how to release the energy?" I shook my head. "Okay. I'll just have to do it for you. It'll be painful but it won't kill you."

She placed a hand on my forehead and began to chant. At once my forehead began to hurt even more.

"May!" I cried.

"Just hold on." She soothed. "It'll be over in a second."

True to her word, the pain stopped almost immediately. I sighed and accepted a glass of water she handed to me. "Thanks a lot May. I've never felt anything like that before. Why now?"

"Did you use your abilities on our friends?"

I sighed. "I just tried to look into Drew's head. I couldn't be in a Zen-state with everyone talking so I had to settle for reading his emotions. I guess I used up more energy than I realized."

"Yeah. Be careful and make sure to meditate once in a while."

"Meditate? You mean that thing monks do while they sit around chanting om?"

She snorted. "No, not like that. Chanting helps clear the mind of distraction, but if you don't like om you can look up another chant or just not do it. Whatever helps you clear your mind. Meditation is a really easy way of clearing energy waste."

I rolled my eyes. "I think I'll stick with no chanting." I smiled. "But thanks. I don't know why that hasn't happened before."

"Did you get any sleep?" I shook my head. "That's why. Sleep is another form of meditation. It helps you clean the wastes easier. Take naps often when you can."

I nodded. "I'll try. How did you know about this?"

In that moment, her normally cheerful eyes darkened with hate. But then they went back to normal quickly and I assumed it was just a trick of the light. "A...friend of mine taught me stuff like this. How to recognize someone who has a psychic ability or how to properly channel my energy into healing charms."

"You mean the Phoenix story is fake? Its just your energy that goes into the charms?"

She giggled and shook her head. "No. The Phoenix is the one who gave me this power." She paused. "He is also the one who taught me how to use it."

"Wow!" I gasped. "That's so cool! Being taught by a Phoenix! Wow May, you have to be the luckiest girl on Earth!"

If I didn't know better, I would say the smile she gave me was fake. "Yeah, I guess so." She glanced at her watch. "Its nearly eleven. I should help you get back."

"Oh no!" I began to panic. "I didn't have trouble jumping out the window, but how am I supposed to get in without getting caught? If Ms. Solidad finds me, I'll have no choice but to stay at the hotel all day tomorrow! What should I do?"

May giggled. "Relax. I know a friend who can help us get in without getting caught."

* * *

The friend she had was a guy named Lance. He owned the hotel we were staying at and apparently, May helped him propose to his wife, Cynthia.

"I couldn't have done it without her charms." He chuckled as he led us to my room. "I remember being so nervous too. Now I would do anything for May."

May blushed at his complements. "Please stop. Its a bit embarrassing just giving me all the credit."

He chuckled again. "Whatever you say May." We stopped in front of my room. "Here you are. I'll give you two some room to say your goodbyes."

I shook his hand. "It was nice to meet you Mr. Lance."

He nodded. "Likewise." And he walked away.

I turned to May. "Thank you so much. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there."

She shook her head. "Its fine. Anyways, so long as you're in San Francisco for the rest of your stay, come to me for any questions you have."

I nodded and hugged her before waving goodbye and walking quietly into my room.

* * *

They let us wake up on our own this time since the game was a little before noon. 10:09 glared at me in neon red as I rose from the comfort that was a bed and stretched. I figured the others might as well be at the buffet since it didn't end until eleven so I took my time getting dressed.

I wore the comfiest jeans I owned, black and white checkered Vans, an orange shirt with a black SF Giants logo on it that I picked up from our trip into the city yesterday, and some sunglasses. May warned us it would be hot, so I brought along some sunscreen (for Dawn, because she had seriously fair skin), some deodorant (for Misty and I, because we sweat easily) and my camera (because I'm a picture-taking freak). Putting it all in my bag, and getting my friends bags, I skipped happily down the staircase to meet my friends at the buffet.

They were all waiting for my with a plate of all my favorite fruits and a veggie omelet.

I wiped away a fake tear as I sat down between Ash and Drew. "You guys really do care!"

Misty rolled her eyes and shoved a smoothie cup under my nose. "Yeah yeah. Did you bring our stuff?"

I nodded and handed them their bags. "Yep. Everything is packed and ready to go!"

Suddenly, a breathless May appeared in front of us. "Hey!" She exclaimed breathlessly. "What are you guys still doing here?"

Drew raised an eyebrow. "Are you so air-headed that you haven't realized the game doesn't start until noon?"

"Grasshead." May rolled her eyes. "Are you people nuts? The traffic in the city is _**beyond awful**_ during game season! If you guys get there before the game starts, it'll take hours just to get in the stadium!"

We all exchanged nervous glances. Gary coughed and stood up. "Why don't we go talk to Ms. Solidad about this?"

* * *

After a lot of freaking out (on Ms. Solidad and our other classmate's part) we were in the bus and on the road.

"Phew." Dawn sighed and leaned against my shoulder. "Thank God May came when she did. I don't want to even think about what would have happened if we had missed the game!"

We grimaced as we overheard Conway, a geeky boy from our class who had a major crush on Dawn, murmuring to his friends that he was going to slowly strangle whatever bitch that dared wake him from his precious...dream, involving him and Dawn...ew. I swear, if Paul had been sitting one seat closer, Conway wouldn't just worry about his wet dream.

We finally pulled up to the stadium. I got a much better look now that it wasn't dark. The stadium was huge! Large walls blocked it from the outside, but statues and monuments were placed along the walkway every few feet. The gates we had to pass through were ginormous! But the line was border line horror. There had to be a thousand people just outside the gates! And a million more people outside the lines looking for tickets! Luckily, the line seemed to be moving at a steady pace.

If I thought the outside was impressive, it was nothing compared to the inside. Little shops and food stalls adorned the side of the walkways. We all drank it in as our teacher led us to where our seats were. I saw Dawn and May wearing matching orange panda hats and Ash and Misty were sharing a thing of cotton candy and feeding it to each other. Drew was taking pictures of the bay for his family while snacking on a churro and I saw Gary and Paul getting something to eat. I rolled my eyes. All boys cared about were their stomachs really.

I nearly jumped out of my clothes when I felt and arm weave around my shoulders. "Hey Leaf."

I rolled my eyes again. Drake was a classmate of mine who had crush on me. I tried to discourage him, but it seemed that, to him, we were soul mates and meant to be together. He'd been hitting on me since we were freshmen. I tried to be nonchalant about my reply. "Screw off Drake."

….But then again, being nonchalant was never my thing.

He rolled his eyes and took his arm off my shoulders. "When will you finally get it into your head that we are made for each other Leaf?"

"As soon as you finally realize I'm not going to go out with you until Gary admits he is gay."

He winced. "Ouch. Nice one Leafy."

I nearly hit him. "Only friends call me Leafy. And you sir, are certainly _**not**_ my friend."

He clutched his heart like he was in pain. "Aw, that hurts Leaf. And here I thought I was your bestest best buddy."

I rolled my eyes. "Jump off the ledge Drake. I have better things to do than listen to a winy pre-adolescent." Walked towards Dawn, who was looking at the tickets. "Do we have everything?"

Dawn nodded. "O_ui_. I got Paul to smuggle some shots into our drink. Misty is explaining to May."

I rolled my eyes again. It was a tradition for all of us. The oldest (in this case, Paul) would smuggle some Vodka or Whiskey into our drinks before a big event. Stupid? Yes. But it helped us through midterms, finals and annoying lectures.

Welcome to New York my friends.

* * *

After a few more hundred side-trips courtesy of Gary, Ash and Dawn, we finally sat down in our seats. We were facing the line between second and third so we couldn't really see that far ahead, but it would give us a great chance to catch a homer should it actually happen. I know for a fact that May, Ash, Dawn and I were the only ones who brought our gloves from back home.

The game was awesome! It was Giants vs. the whoever Knights and the Knights were getting their asses kicked! There must have been over ten thousand people just in the stands! Thank God May got us out here in time or we would have missed the entire game trying to get inside the damn stadium! There was only one homer though. And believe it or not, Dawn actually caught it!

She was just sitting there, when suddenly Paul hoisted her up with her legs between his head so he was giving her a piggy-back ride on his shoulders. Someone screamed for her to duck and instead of actually ducking, she blocked whatever was about to hit her head with her glove. When she opened her eyes we were all cheering, the big screen was showing her shocked face and she was holding the ball in her hand.

She was blushing big time for the rest of the game. We were all smiling as we left the stadium.

"I can't believe I actually caught it!" Cooed Dawn as everyone fell on top of each other trying to get a look at the only home run ball of the game and Ash complained about how he should have sat where Dawn was. When everyone finally scattered she immediately ran over to Paul and kissed his cheek, making him blush harder than I've ever seen someone blush. "_Merci bocu _Paul!"

He blushed harder. "It was nothing Troublesome."

Gary grinned and elbowed Ash's ribs. "He's sure trying hard to deny it huh?" They snickered.

Idiots. Paul was _**so **_going to kill them later.

"Alright everyone!" Ms. Solidad announced when all of us had settled down. "Time to go to Alcatraz." While the rest of our classmates hurried to score a good seat on the bus, she turned to May. "Thanks a lot May. I doubt we would have seen the whole game if we left the time we were going to leave."

May shook her head. "Not a problem Ms. Solidad. I was happy to help."

Ms. Solidad smiled. "And just so you know, you are always welcome at the hotel we're staying at. If you want a slumber party, I say go for it. Oh! Why don't you come along to Alcatraz? We would love to have you come with us."

Us girls beamed. "Thank you so much Ms. Solidad!" She smiled again and walked to the bus.

I turned to our small group of friends. "So...the front of the bus, or the back?"

* * *

Okay, I am never going to sleep ever again.

It was...well, a prison. There were the usual cells, the bloody hand print on the wall and bladdy blah. But when they have echo-ey cell rooms or fake heads floating on the ceiling that is when I draw the line.

We managed to score a table in the sun to eat our lunches at. The breeze from the bay was making it way too chilly to sit in the shade.

"So," May started the conversation as we dug into our lunches. "how long are you guys here for?"

"About three more days and four more nights." Dawn answered. "We exchanged two days and three nights in Hawaii for four days and five nights in San Francisco."

May whistled. "Are you guys from some sort of private school or something?"

We all blushed. Harlington Academy was a fancy school, but it was the only school in the district. And its not like our parents aren't well off or anything, but every time we told someone where we went to the academy they would call us snobs or diss us. "Sort of." Misty answered.

May shrugged like it didn't matter to her. We all silently sighed in relief. "Nice. At least that explains Brianna's I'm-all-that-and-more attitude. I remember when I used to go to school–"

"No way!" Ash exclaimed. "You don't go to school? Awesome!" His face fell at May's expression. She looked like she was about to burst out crying. "Did I say something?"

May shook her head and wiped her eyes. "No. I just...don't exactly have very good memories of the times I used to go to school."

"Like?" Drew gently prodded.

When she didn't say anything, Dawn said, "You don't have to talk _chérie. _If it's something you are not comfortable with..."

May shook her head. "It's fine. I just...don't like to talk about it. It brings back a lot of bad memories."S her bit her lip. "I–"

"Everyone!" We turned to see Ms. Solidad waving her arms around, trying to catch everyone's attention. "It's time to head back to the boat. Clean up and make sure you don't forget anything!"

I couldn't help but notice the fact that May sighed in relief.


	3. Dawn

Cherry Blossoms In San Francisco  
Silver Psychic

I don't own the characters. I attach strings to them and shout, "Dance marionettes! Dance for my pleasure!"

* * *

Chapter 3: Dawn

We headed back to the hotel, my hand captured in Paul's while the others went ahead of us. I smiled softly as he unconsciously tightened his hand on mine when some boys from our class waved at me. The others hadn't noticed it yet, and for that I was content. _Fidèle _as they are, they don't exactly know the definition of subtle.

I know I like Paul, but considering his personality I don't think it would be wise to confess in some sort of girly way that he hates. I know him like I would know a best friend. His quirks, his faults, everything that makes him Paul. So I just have to wait for_** him**_ to say the words. Now if only he weren't so damn shy...

"So where should we go next?" Misty's question interrupted my thoughts.

May shrugged. "I dunno. What do you guys feel like doing?"

"Go-Karts!" Ash suddenly yelled. "It's been awhile since we've Go-Karted!"

May squealed. "Ash, if you weren't dating Misty I would kiss you!" We all laughed at Ash's blush. "I know the perfect place, but its a little far. Do you guys mind?"

"Hell no!" Gary cooed. "If you can get us to a place that lets me kick Ashy-boy's butt at something, let 'er rip!"

"I don't think a long wait will be a problem." Leaf echoed in a more refined manner.

"Great. Let's hop on the bus, get my van and then we'll head out."

* * *

We weren't on the bus for five minutes when the _pute _surrounded us. I had to cover my nose as Ursula and her overbearing perfume came near us and sat next to Paul on the other isle.

"_Foutez le camp loin de nous salope putain_!" I hissed. I do love to curse in a language when no one knows what I'm talking about. "Just leave us alone! Its not like anyone wants you here!"

She simply smirked and ignored me. "Hello Paul." Paul didn't even acknowledge her. Good job Paul! She sniffed and tried again. "So, my friends and I were thinking of going to Bucca DeBepo in the city and we would love for you and your friends to come with us."

"And I assume the invitation doesn't extend to us?" I sneered.

She scowled back. "You assume right, freak."

"Hah,_**freak**_? How original."

"Its hard to make an excuse to get away from your ugly face."

"_**Excuse me**_?" I shrieked, attracting the attention of everyone on the bus. "_**I'm**_the ugly one? You're the one who _**breaks a mirror**_ every day every time you look into it!"

"Take that back you phony French bitch!"

Oh she crossed a line. "Misty!" I called while I threw my purse and earrings at her. She was surprised, but caught them easily. "Hold my shit. I'm gonna beat the crap out of this _chienne_! It's time she knew how we French deal with people who have no brains and flaunt it."

Of course, Ursula went red and flung herself at me. I dodged and she crashed headfirst into the gut of my classmate, Barry. "Ow." He grumbled. But she wasn't done. As soon as she got her barrings she flung herself at me again. This time, she actually came into contact with me and we tumbled onto the floor of the bus. I could hear Ms. Solidad shout at the driver to stop or pullover or something. I managed to land a smack on Ursula's face as she started to pull my hair. All around us our classmates were either cheering one of us on or discouraging us, but no one dared to make a move to stop us.

Suddenly someone wrapped their arms around my waist and lifted me off the bitch. A boy I didn't recognize lifted Ursula away from me and dragged her toward the back of the bus. "Calm down." Paul's tenor voice whispered in my ear, making goosebumps appear along my arms. "She's not worth it."

"But–"

He lowered his head to my neck and lightly blew on it. "Just calm down."

My face was neon red but I nodded and took a deep breath. "Alright. But you owe me. I was _**so **_going to take down that fake_ 'dorange sa_–"

"You couldn't take me down if I had my hands behind my back you bitch!" Ursula yelled from the back.

"It's the other way around you fake!"

"I dare you to say that to my face Berlitz!"

"Fine! _Vous êtes de faux_! Get it now? Or are you too stupid to make up a comeback!"

"Just because you're jealous–"

"Who the hell would be _jaloux_ of someone like you!"

"Speak English dammit!"

"_Impossible de prendre le fait que vous êtes stupide_?"

"I heard the stupid in there, Freak!"

"Good you _Vache!_"

"Stupid!"

"_Chienne!_"

"Jerk!"

"Pig!"

"Oh you did _**not **_just call me a pig you–"

"THATS ENOUGH!" We all turned to to Ms. Solidad, hands on her hips and steam coming out of her ears. "Any more insults and I will throw you two off this bus! And then I'll run you over and laugh hysterically while I burn your remains! Do I make myself CLEAR?"

"Yes ma'am." We both squeaked.

"Good."

* * *

"Ugh." I growled as people jumped off the bus and ran in different directions. "If I never see that _vache_ again it will be way too soon."

Gary was suddenly behind me, pounding me on my back. "Did you _**see**_ her face? Priceless!" He burst out laughing. "I wish I had a camera! It would have been photo of the year!"

I couldn't help but blush as everyone laughed. Even Paul was smiling. "It wasn't that funny Gary."

"Are you kidding?" Misty giggled. "It was hilarious! I never knew you had it in you Dawny!"

I blushed even harder. "Was it really that funny?"

"All that and more." May assured me. "I really wish I had the courage to do something like that to Brianna."

"And me with Melody."

"And we all know Dana deserves it." Leaf smirked. "As of today, you are our idol Dawn!"

* * *

Being an idol had it's perks. Everyone waved to you when you passed and you got the first pick in seats. I nodded in the front seat. "I think I'm going to get very used to this."

Paul snorted. "Thats all we need; Troublesome getting a bigger ego. Any larger and it'll be the size of the Empire State building."

"Hey!"

May giggled. "Enough you two. Twenty more minutes of that and we'll all go insane before we even get to Malibu."

Of course, Ash had to be the one to ask, "But aren't we going to that Go-Kart place you were talking about?"

Everyone groaned in unison.

* * *

At first I thought May was leading us to the middle of nowhere. Once we got off 101, we suddenly turned left at this back road that led us to a bunch of corporate businesses and factories. She suddenly made another sharp turn and we pulled into a parking lot. The building was castle shaped with fake stones painted obviously on the front. All around us kids and teens and adults alike walked or ran into the building.

Gary snorted. "This looks so cheesy. Are you sure this is the place?"

May nodded. "Trust me. I know exactly what I'm doing."

She led us inside past an arcade and outside what looked like a mini-gold course. Instead of taking one of the cobblestone roads, she led us on a separate concrete path to a smaller building. It was plainer than the other building, but had an arcade and a snack counter. She motioned for us to wait while she went up to another counter and asked for eight tickets to an apathetic cashier.

"Cash or debit?"

"Debit."

My eyes widened as we heard the amount. "Thats way too much to pay for on your own!" Misty protested.

Drew stepped aside May and pulled out his own credit card. "Let me pay."

"But–"

"You've been paying for us since yesterday. I think you can swallow your pride on this."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever Grasshead."

My eyes widened as he smiled in response. _Sourit_! _**The **_Drew Hayden doesn't smile. He smirks or scowls or has a blank face, but he doesn't smile! May must be really special to him. I heard Leaf let out a gasp. She was just as bewildered as I was.

As we all got our hands stamped, I noticed Paul look a little pale as he gazed at the race track outside. I had never experienced this Go-Kart before, but it looked pretty dangerous. I realized I was glad I wasn't giving up too much. Sighing as I got into character, I clutched my head and let out a tiny whimper, making sure to make my face a little paler. Misty noticed immediately. "Dawn? Are you okay?"

I nodded weakly. "I just have a bit of a headache."

"Do you need anything? I can sit out if you want?"

I shook my head. "Its fine. You guys go ahead. Paul already said he'll stay here with me, right Paul?"

His eyes were clouded by confusion, but after a while he nodded. "Yeah, whatever."

"See? I'll be fine."

I saw Gary raise a brow in suspicion but he shrugged it off and turn to Leaf. "Prepare to loose!"

"Over _**your**_ dead body!"

"That can be arrang-hey!"

They continued to bicker as the rest of our group trailed outside. I turned to Paul. "Sorry. I didn't know another way to keep you back."

"How did you know?"

I shrugged. "I'm the daughter of a psychologist. I can recognize when someone is scared."

He was silent as we listened to our friends shout in laughter. Leaf and Gary were currently in the lead, but Leaf was about three feet ahead of him. Misty and Ash were betting on who was going to win, the winner getting a free pizza. May just shook her head and kept laughing at the funny faces Leaf and Gary made as they zoomed around the track.

I relished in the noise our friends made as Paul and I sat down at a table by the window and watched. "Sorry." I apologized.

"What are you apologizing for Troublesome?" I didn't know, so I kept silent and shrugged. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "My mom died in a car accident when I was a kid. I have to close my eyes when I'm in a moving vehicle. I hate roller coasters and I get nauseous when I can't feel the solid ground on my feet."

That shocked me. "But just a couple of weeks ago, when we went over to your house–"

"Thats my step-mom. I look like her, so no one questions our relationship." He sighed again. "My real mom died in the accident."

"And thats why you looked so reluctant to go with the others." I realized. "But why didn't you tell us?"

"Everyone has secrets Troublesome. Leaf never told us she was psychic and May is obviously hiding something. But I never really wanted to tell people the truth because I knew they would pity me."

I smiled and put my hand over his. "I don't pity you Paul. I _admirer _you. I think its very admirable of you to live as you do already. I promise I don't pity you."

He smiled faintly. "Thanks Dawn."

I quickly kissed his cheek. "No problem Paul. Any time."

"Oh! Someone scored big time." We quickly broke away in time to see an obnoxiously cheery Ash.

May, who looked even more cheerful than Ash, patted him on his shoulder. "Don't mind him. He's just looking for someone to take his frustrations out on."

"I'm not–"

"One more foot!" A frustrated Gary shouted to a smirking Leaf. "One more foot and I swear–"

"But its one more foot you _**lost**_. So you_** lost**_ and you are treating me to any dinner of my choice."

"I take it Leaf won?" Paul dryly asked Misty.

She laughed and nodded. "It was hilarious too. Leaf and Gary were neck and neck when she suddenly called out, 'Hey Gary! If you win, I'll let you kiss me!' He was so surprised that he lifted his foot from the gas pedal while she sped ahead and won." She began to laugh again. "You should have seen Ash's expression! It looked like someone told him he had to go on a diet."

I laughed with her. "You guys finished?"

"Yeah," May answered. "Ash owes Misty pizza anyway, so we're heading over to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner." She turned to Drew. "And no more paying for me! I am perfectly financially stable enough to treat you guys to pizza."

"May," I said as we walked out the doors and down to her van. "you've been paying for everything. It's just Drew's way of saying _merci_."

She sighed. "Well, if you insist." Her sudden grin gave me goosebumps. "But I warn you, I'm _**very **_hungry."

I snickered behind my hand. Drew was so going to get it. Oh well, let him figure that out for himself.

* * *

We all started laughing at a very pale-faced Drew after dinner. And he saw what May could eat.

"It should be against all laws of physics." He whispered as he stared wide-eyed at May, who was grinning and patting her still-flat stomach.

"What I wanna know is, how the heck can you eat that much and not gain a single ounce?" Leaf asked.

May grinned again. "Lots of exercise. Not to mention a very high metabolism."

Misty groaned and leaned on Ash's shoulder. "I could use that for my swimming. If I ate like that normally I'd be the size of a cow in a month."

"If I normally ate like May, I'd be the size of _**two**_ cows in a _**week**_." Leaf groaned. "At least you have sports and stuff to keep it off your stomach. I'm psychic, not an athlete."

May shrugged. "You could be both. I've heard that New York isn't hilly like San Fran is. Just jog a little every day in the scenic parks around Manhattan and you'll be eating like a cow in no time."

Leaf groaned. "Did I mention I hate exercise?"

"More than you hate Dana?" I asked.

"...Nobody hates anything as much as I hate Dana."

May giggled and turned to a still-pale-faced Drew. "And _**you **_will be picking up my tab Grasshead."

"Jesus May. Eat me broke will ya?"

"Nope. I prefer ketchup and mayonnaise with bloody human intestines on soft dark skin bu–"

"May!" Leaf gasped. She and the rest of our friends looked a little green. Heck, I felt green. "We just ate! I like my food in my stomach, where it should_** stay**_!"

May rolled her eyes. "Sorry. I'm used to hanging around people with stronger stomachs."

"Well well well. If it isn't little Mary-Belle Maple." We turned to see three girls, their arms crossed and their expressions superior. "Guess you finally found some people to keep you company. How much did you pay them to be your friends? Or did you give the guys a little..._**service–**_"

"Its May, Tia._"_ May sounded defeated, which made all of our eyes widen with shock. "I'm not any of you. I don't spread my legs for every guy that comes panting to me."

The girl behind her sniffed. "Don't talk about us like that!"

"Like you have any right to talk to May like that?" Paul shot back at her.

The third girl narrowed her eyes. "How did you get mixed up with Freaky May anyways?"

"We didn't get _mixte_ up with her." I snarled. Paul had to pull me back down in my seat, but I wasn't finished. "We _**met **_her. And if you had half of a brain in that _maudit _head of yours, you would see what a _magnifique _friend she is."

"What she said!" Ash jumped in.

"No matter who or what May is," Drew interjected, putting a hand on May's shoulder and drawing her closer to him. "she's still a thousand times better than you, as a person and as a friend."

"Now, if you're finished treating our friend like trash," Leaf started.

"We need to get back to our dinner." Gary finished.

"You're spoiling my appetite just by being here." Misty interjected.

The three girls flushed. "You will _**so**_ regret this." Tia warned. "You don't know what a real freak she is. Its better if you get up and walk away now while you still have the chance."

"Or what a liar she is." The third girl interjected. "You don't even know what she is, do you?"

"All we need to know is that May is a thousand times better than you." Misty snarled. "Beyond that is what May wants to tell us."

"You seriously haven't even asked where she got her powers from?" The third girl eyed us curiously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"She started a fire tha–"

"Enough!" May banged her fists on the table and glared at all three girls, who started to shiver with fear. "That fire wasn't my fault! Stop spreading rumors about me!"

The second girl sniffed. "C'mon Tia, Layla. We have better things to do than hang around a murderer."

"I'M NOT A MURDERER!"

The bulbs from the lamps above us suddenly shattered. All around the restaurant people were screaming as the light bulbs above their tables shattered. Sparks were flying everywhere. The terrible trio began screaming about how it was May's fault. They ran out of there as fast as their Prada heels could carry them. But the scariest thing was that May wasn't panicking like the rest of us. She was sitting there with this blank look on her face, as if in a trance. I couldn't hear anything above the screaming, but I saw Leaf shaking May's shoulders, trying to get her to snap out of it.

As soon as the terrible trio was gone, the sparking and screaming stopped. May suddenly gasped and looked around. "No." She whimpered. "No, not again. I thought I could control it!"

"May?" Leaf timidly put a hand on May's shoulder. "Whats–"

May jerked away. "Don't touch me!" She began to tremble. "J-Just stay away and leave me alone!" With that, she threw her keys at the table and ran out.

"May!" Drew called out to her.

But she vanished, as if darkness had somehow hidden her in its grasp.

* * *

"She has to be somewhere." Gary growled as he checked over the map on his IPad.

"The problem is," Paul pointed out. "that we could be searching for days and still not find a single trace of her. She knows this city like we know New York. She knows the best places to hide and the best places to stay hidden."

"We have more than enough time." Leaf announced. "I've already spoken to Ms. Solidad and she says that so long as we're back home by midnight, we can keep searching for May as long as we like. It's only seven, which means we've got five hours."

Drew nodded. "Alright. We have May's van, so all we need are possible locations. We have seven people so we have six possibilities."

"Why only six?" Misty asked. "We have seven people, so shouldn't that equal seven locations?"

"Someone has to go to her home and wait for her there." Ash pointed out. "That someone should also let her family know and maybe get a better lead on where to find her." We all stared at him in shock. "What?"

"I'm _impressionné_." I admitted. "Here I thought the only things you were ever _sérieux_ about was eating and sleeping. Good for you Ash."

He flushed. "Oh be quiet!"

"I'll take the van." Drew volunteered. "I have a feeling I know where she might be. But its just a hunch so you guys keep looking. Figure out who is going where and I'll drop you off."

* * *

I groaned as Drew dropped me off at the entrance to Japan town. "Explain to me again why you feel that I need a _**babysitter**_?" I practically spat the last word to Paul.

He sighed and started walking. I hurried to catch up. "Because I don't trust you to not get lost."

I flushed angrily, but didn't say a word as we walked along the stone pathway to May's house. We walked to the door and Paul knocked twice. Immediately a young boy, maybe one or two years younger than us, answered the door. "May I help you?"

Paul nodded. "We came to see if May Maple had returned home. Is she here?"

The young boy shook his head and readjusted his glasses on his nose. "Sorry, but she hasn't come home yet. She left this morning to go to a baseball game with her friends and she hasn't been back since." He observed us for a moment. "You guys are the ones she went to the baseball game with, aren't you?"

I nodded. "_Oui_. But not even an hour ago, something strange happened while we were eating."

He narrowed his eyes. "Things started exploding or catching on fire, right?"

"How did you know?" Paul asked.

He sighed heavily. "Let's just say this isn't the first time this has happened. Why don't you come in and hear the rest of the story?"

* * *

If anyone realized the Bring It On reference, I'll give you a cookie!

God, it took me freakin forever to update this!


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